Through the summer of 1988, Rolfer Thom Walker (Burlington, Vermont) and I conducted a study of the process by which new clients come to us. Our new enrollments for that period, and therefore the size of our study sample, totaled 46 people. We conducted the study to better understand the process through which people hear about Rolfing and eventually decide to be Rolfed, and through this understanding to do better at bringing people to Rolfing. In reporting the results in Rolf Lines and in making a few generalizations and interpretations of these data, I make no claims to any scientific rigor and offer the material to the community in a spirit of stimulating thought and experimentation among practitioners.

Exactly 50% of our new enrollment started with a contact which we initiated, versus a contact which the client initiated. In these 23 cases, we began the enrollment process by making a call to someone whose name we had been given or by speaking with someone. we knew or had met about the possibility of their being Rolfed. This kind of outreach to potential clients is important for both Tom and me. However, I did more of it than Thom. I initiated contact with 58% of my new clients during this period, whereas Thom was the initiator with 41% of his new clients.

How did we obtain the names of that 50% of our enrollments where we initiated the first contact? Not surprisingly, 67% of them came from clients or former clients. This reflects the fact that we have developed an organized approach to encouraging our clients to refer others to us or to suggest people for us to contact; and in various, specific ways -we acknowledge clients who do refer others to us.

Another 24% of the people we contacted first were people we ourselves knew or had met. Here Thom and I differ considerably. Thom got 90% of his outreach contacts from clients or former clients; and Jeff got 50% of his contacts this way and drew 50% on encounters with people he knew or had met. This may reflect the fact that I have lived in Burlington for a number of years longer than Thom, may reflect some personality differences, and may reflect the fact that my involvement in Werner Erhard?s seminar program puts me in contact with people who are predisposed to Rolfing.

Fifty percent of our new clients during this period initiated the first contact with us. Of these 36% heard of us from a friend; 25% had attended a Rolfing demonstration at some point; 25% learned of us from a T.V. or radio show or a newspaper article; and 12% learned of Rolfing from an advertisement. However, while advertisements were not a big source of initial information for this group, 58% of those who contacted us first found our phone number in an advertisement or a brochure they had picked up. It seems as though the advertisements and brochures alone do not enroll people- which is no surprise – but they do serve a valuable function as a directory.

Whether we reached out or the client reached out first, in only 22% of the cases was there a face-to ? face meeting prior to the first session. Clearly, skill in using the phone is critical. Fifty – four percent of all clients did receive some literature from us after the initial contact.

From the time of our initial contact with a client, regardless of whether we or they made it, an average of 3 months passed to the date of the first session. This suggests the value of a good system for tracking people through the enrollment–a process that begins with the first contact, may involve sending literature or inviting the person to a subsequent demonstration, probably has a phone call or two in the middle and concludes with an appointment being kept for the first session.

Clients reported knowing of Rolfing for an average of 3 1/2 years prior to the initial contact, at least in enough depth to have a general idea of what it is all about. This reinforces the notion that much of what we do by way of outreach and promotion does in fact lay the foundation for later enrollments and also reinforces the value of sticking-with?it in a steady and stable way with a targeted community or targeted population.

All this has reinforced the obvious for us, which is valuable in its own way. We are still in the position-at least in our community and I suspect in many of your communities??·of needing to generate the activity that brings people to Rolfing, given our intention to have a consistently expanding practice for ourselves and associates. Our outreach, whether direct or indirect, is crucial. Furthermore, each of our enrollment activities pays off, to differing degrees, but enough to make a difference when added together. Also obvious, but worth reiterating is that the good work we do with our clients, combined with some encouragement of our clients to think of others who might want to be Rolfed is very important in having new people enroll.

Comments, questions, and shared experiences are welcome.

Adv. Rolfer Jeffry Galper, Ph.D. is the director of Rolfing Associates in S.Burlington, Vermont, and serves on the Rolf Institute Board of Directors.Generating Rolfing Clients